Linked souls
by hero-brine-bug new account
Summary: (This is the same one from my old account.) The DWMA recruits a thief and decides to experiment with her half-keeshin soul.
1. Chapter 1

~Prolouge~

"Where am I?" A girl asked to herself as she shakily stood on the strange surface of a floor, It was solid but ripples formed under any weight placed on it, as if it was water, a few feet away a boy stood, asking the same question. Blood dripped from various cuts and bruises on both. "Your lives were ended before your roles were completed..." A woman said calmly to the the boy and girl standing infront of her, who looked badly injured. "My role...what is it?" The girl went into a coughing fit at the end of the question. "My role?" The boy asked. "Yes, your roles, the reason you were put in existance, because you died before they were fullfilled you will be brought back to life, but in a different timeline, one almost identical to the one you died in, but some memories change, Hotaru, you will remember being kicked out, not being killed by your father and Danny, the train won't crash in this timeline , in-fact that moment already passed, that is all i am allowed to say" The woman explained. "But before you are placed in a new timeline, You'll be healed" The woman stepped towards the dead-looking children and began healing them. After a few minutes they were in perfect health, looking determined "You are both half-keeshin from now on, it is up to you what happens" The woman motioned to the whole room, The boy and girl shuddered, resigned to their new fates. "This is your only chance, die here and you stay dead, Also, you won't remember anything I just said, Farewell"


	2. Chapter 2

"The loneliest people are the kindest. The saddest people smile the brightest. The most damaged people are the wisest. All because they do not wish to see anyone else suffer the way they do"

"Oh crap" A flurry of frenzied footsteps steadily hitting the ground echoed around on a street. The moon highlighted a shadow against the walls "stop!, you're under arrest!" A boy's voice resounded shattering the silence the smaller figure pulled up their hood and ran faster they were clearly exhausted and panicked. The cocking of a gun and a gun shot startled the crows nearby, a Yelp, and hiss followed. "stop!' The boy yelled and the smaller figure stumbled and kept running, at a slower pace, the un-identified smaller figure suddenly disappeared into an alleyway. "Just give up already!" a silver haired boy and blonde haired girl leaped down from one of the walls of the alleyway the small figure had scurried to. The figure groaned and extended an arm, staring at it with disgust. A light wrapped around the extended arm and a blade appeared from the under side of their wrist. "N-no" the now cornered figure was slightly hunched down and was trembling they looked up slightly at the people blocking the exit and a light wrapped around the same arm again and a medium sized blade now peeked out from the sleeve. The small figure lashed out at the people and low chuckling echoed around, the small figure looked up and smirked, once again lashing out at the people wildly, another figure walked in, this time a tall, scrawny one. "will you give up now?" the silver-haired person smirked "no" The aura surrounding the panicked tiny figure changed suddenly into one of a struggle. "NO" the poor panicked figure's eyes flashed and their left arm was now replaced by a huge blade "Kid, Chrona, go get Black star and Tsubaki" two of the people nodded and disappeared. In a second the remaining girl was holding a scythe. The smaller figure seemed to be in a confused agony and then switched back to a more menacing stance .In less than a minute the blonde girl was pinned to the floor, her scythe lay on the ground and the small figure was bent over her, with a blade to her neck. The scythe suddenly took the form of the silver haired boy "Maka!" "You'd better leave me be…" The smaller figure put more pressure on the girl now identified as Maka's throat. Then the people identified as Kid and Chrona ran up, trying to startle the figure, gunshots echoed loudly and the figure stumbled and backed away a few steps. The small figure retreated for a few seconds and then lashed out once again at Maka and Soul. "IT IS I, THE MIGHTY BLACK STAR!" another person yelled and popped in, startling the still un-identified figure,"Why wont you just give up?!" Kid yelled in frustration and shot the small figure, witch was panicking quite obviously seeing as it had no clear attack pattern "Tsubaki, smoke bomb mode!" Black star commanded. "Now's not the time to run away" Tsubaki reminded him "Who said anything about running?" Black star smirked arrogantly and threw the smoke bomb. The person was clearly outlined against the smoke. "caught ya'" Maka smirked and pressed the scythe to the person's neck "you're coming with us" "Says who?" The person shot off." Goddamnit! , you couldn't pay more attention could you?" Black star cursed and ran off, along with Kid,as a long-range weapon would help. Kid shot at the retreating target. After a few more shots, the figure seemed to collapse, but was instead kneeling down, panting heavily. The figure tried to stand but failed as one-by-one weapon and meister appeared side-by-side "Now do you give up?" Kid hissed in irritation "Not that I would want to…" The person nodded, their voice revealed them to be a girl, apparently a young one, but her face was not revealed. "W-what's your name" Chrona spoke softly "So now you need to know, your targets name, you should know already" The girl snapped, and Chrona was taken aback "for all the trouble you're causing, it would only be fair" a girl with short blonde hair muttered "Tough luck Blondie" The girl laughed meanly, there was a pause and then the girl shot off running again, and once again the team took off running after their retreating target only to have her slow down after a while, probably exhausted "Finally" Maka groaned as the girl finally stopped "Now, you're coming with us" Two blonde girls each put a hand on the shaky girl's shoulders "Now to make sure you don't escape!" Black Star grinned and slung the struggling girl over his shoulder. "Stay still!" he grimaced as the girl struggled frantically. Tsubaki sighed "Sorry I had to do this" And hit a spot on the back of the girl's neck. Every-one sighed in relief as the girl fell limp.


	3. Chapter 3

"We can not afford to stop for to long, if she wakes up, her chance of escape is quite high from what we've seen" Kid stated while writing a number on a fogged-up mirror "Well, Hi, Hello!, I se you've got them?" A happy voice seemed to come from the mirror." It's a girl father, She gave us a lot of trouble" Kid sighed in slight embarrassment of his father "Her soul matches the description you gave us, but its so strange!" Maka reported from behind Kid "How so?" The voice inquired "It's even more corrupted than what you told us it was, but in a different way and is not yet a Keeshin egg…" Maka trailed off. "I see…we can discuss this tomorrow…well goodbye!" And in a flash the voice was gone "Well lets get going!" Black Star shifted the unconscious girl onto his back. Tsubaki helped loop her arms around Black Star's neck so she wouldn't fall off as easily. They walked in silence for around half an hour until a soft glow surrounded the girl's arm and a small blade slid out and was now near Black star's neck "Uh…is she really unconscious?" Chrona asked. Tsubaki nodded. They walked in silence again until the blade grew longer "Black Star, stay still, apparently she's just sleeping now" Tsubaki looked worried "she must be having one hell of a nightmare" Soul said as the girl whimpered and the blade now replaced her whole arm and NOW Black star began to panic "Oh nonononono" Black Star was now yelling in an effort to wake her up as kid tried to pry her arms carefully from his neck. "Be quiet!" The girl hissed and fell asleep again, But her arm was now back to normal "You carry her now" Black Star shoved the girl onto Soul in irritation. "Why can't anyone else carry her?" Soul complained "are you kidding me?" Kid and Black star asked angrily. Tsubaki sweat-dropped "She's a heavy sleeper but 'im still not carrying her "The girls all agreed and Chrona stayed silent "WHY AM I BEING CARRIED?" The girl had woken up again and now had her arm/blade pressed to Soul's neck "What the hell?!" Soul choked out "When did she even wake up?!" Maka said in exasperation "Why was I being carried?" the girl demanded as she hopped down "W-well Tsubaki had to knock you out" Chrona stuttered "Very well" the girl started walking in the opposite direction "Either you come with us,or Tsubaki knocks you out again" Patti dragged the girl back "Fine, that was the worst feeling, after being shot by him of course" The girl pointed at Kid

~time skip~

"We're here!" Patti cheered "Yay" Liz added drowsily "The sun is up again ,I don't know how to deal with not sleeping "Chrona whined "That's easy to do" The girl paused to yawn "I haven't slept a whole night for months now" "Is that why you were sleeping like a lazy-ass?" "There's a…thing…coming from your back" The girl stared "I know" Chrona sighed as the thing pulled at their cheeks (gender is unknown ;-; ) The girl looked around curiously as they entered a building and then entered an weird office apparently. "Why are you here at this hour?" someone asked "We couldn't stay anywhere due to her habit of escaping, lord death" Maka glared at the girl "We can discuss this later, I see she's the correct person, now lead her to one of the cells" Lord death sounded cranky and the teams just nodded and seemed to almost be falling asleep while standing. "Before you leave, what is your name?" Lord death seemed to remember the question "Striker" the girl smirked.

"Well we'll be going now" Maka and soul walked away "I think I'm leaving too" Crona walked away Black star rubbed his eyes with his fists and left along with tsubaki "we'll be waiting at home" Liz and Patti left leaving a seriously pissed Meister sighed as he noticed Striker's limping he heaved the short girl onto his back "Let me go you unsymmetrical bastard! ,I can walk on my own!" the girl yelled, Kid whimpered comically "No ,you cannot" Kid told the complaining Striker who was now yelling random threats, tho they were beginning to sound fearful, and Kid could sense her soul flaring up in anger and fear. Trough all of this, Striker still had her hood up.

Down the hall a boy named Danny was walking calmly until he sensed Striker's distress apparently. Danny sped up and kicked Kid's legs out from under him and swiftly caught the panicking Striker "Are you okay?" He asked, sensing the girl's soul spiking out abnormally. "Yeah, fine…just got shot around ten times and then knocked out, and now I'm being held prisoner" Striker stated blankly. "Hotaru, but you will call me Striker, like every-one else" Striker said with clear distaste "My name is Danny" Danny told Striker who was laughing hysterically at Kid."Hey, just tell me where my room is, I won't escape!" Striker complained as Kid dragged her down the hall. Danny stared with a severely weirded-out expression. "Father instructed me to take you directly to your cell" Kid kept dragging Striker down the hall. Striker silently wondered how long she would have to stay here, after all she had some tasks pending and she was unable to complete them from the building. "Here you are, tomorrow father will speak to you as soon as you're ready, you will be fed three meals a day, and will be asked to cooperate as much as possible" Kid said coldly as they entered Striker's cell.

"This place sucks, I hope you know that"

"You're here because you're a criminal"

"That doesn't change how much this sucks"

"I don't have time for this…" Kid closed the door and locked it, leaving a slightly hurt-looking Striker behind. "This sucks, I finally got caught" Striker sighed sadly until she noticed a window "Hehehe I can escape!" Striker giggled gleefully and stood on the plain bed the room had under the window-sill She could barely reach the window sill, but when she grabbed the edge she climbed onto it and then punched the glass until it shattered, she froze when she heard footsteps nearing her cell, she quickly leaped out of the window and winced when She heard Kid's voice "I should've waited until he was gone from this floor" Striker pressed herself into a corner of the dark alleyway when she heard Kid near the cell but never opening it, When Kid left the cell Striker walked away from the alley quietly, listening for any voices or other footsteps.


	4. Chapter 4

The next day Sid was in charge of feeding the academy's newest prisoner, of course no-one had bothered to check on her since she was put in the cell, thinking there was no chance of her escaping, Sid unlocked the cell's door easily and looked around the small room, unable to find Striker, he sighed and put the tray he had in his hand on the small table the cold, gray room had. "We shouldn't have given the cells windows…" Sid smiled slightly when he noticed the shattered glass lying everywhere "Oldest trick in the book…, but it looks like we have a clever one" Sid then went to report the escapade to Lord Death. "It seem like we have a stubborn one in our hands" The Shinigami Thought out loud, after hearing the news. "Sid, would you please get them?" Sid nodded, as he knew who the Shinigami meant.

~time skip~

"Maka and soul, you go right, Black star and Tsubaki you go left, Kid ,liz and Patti, you go north, and Danny, you go along with Crona to the south, we cant let you go alone, and I don't think she'll cooperate with anyone else" Stein had been sent with the teams to supervise, and help in case of a very in-probable emergency. Every one nodded and rushed about, in their assigned directions. They had to hurry, since Striker's soul wavelengths were sensed making their way to the outskirts of Death city, but switching directions constantly as if to throw them off track. "ok, Crona, we were told to stay together, but we have more chance of catching her if we split up" Crona nodded and headed in another direction .Danny hurried, checking every possible place in the direction he was ordered to do so.

~Danny's pov~

'Come on! I talk two sentences to someone and the next thing I know, im being sent to get her!' I thought in irritation, I had only spoken two sentences to H-Striker, I corrected myself. From what little I had been told, I knew:

1.'Striker' is a weapon

2. She's actually a well-known thief

3. We need to find her, and convince her to stay in the academy, to prevent her soul becoming evil, but it's more than half-way there.

And finally:

5. She escaped late last night or early this morning. I closed my eyes and visualized the other's current location, 'Striker's' soul seemed much clearer in comparison to the others. I started running, as her soul moved closer to the city's limits. "Danny…?" I easily recognized the voice as 'Striker's' but it sounded somehow…evil? I think we're too late… "Are the others after me?" Striker asked in a guilty tone 'I have a bad feeling about this…' I nodded. 'Striker' seemed horribly saddened now. "I hope you can forgive me…you probably won't though…" She whispered, looked away and then continued "I can't allow myself to get caught" .I noticed one of her arms was replaced by a wine-red sword's blade. "I'll make this as painless as possible". She closed her eyes, and the next thing I know ,I was on the ground and I could barely breathe, blood seeped slowly trough all of the front of my shirt, 'Striker' had blood covering an arm and some had splashed on her cheek, She raised an arm, as if to slash again. By that time, I had stood up and I grabbed the blade with my hand, wincing at the cold metal's bite. 'Striker' was trembling noticeably now. "Calm down, I won't hurt you, and I'm sure you wont hurt me, Hotaru" I tried calming her down, as her soul wavelengths became frenzied. I covered my mouth with my free hand as blood dripped out. "Ouch…" from what I had learned in class, she had probably punctured a lung or something. I heard yelling from the others and a few shots from kid, Hotaru was now charging towards the people running in. "CALL STEIN!" someone was yelling but I couldn't tell who it was. All I felt was a burning pain and the blood kept dripping down .I watched Stein getting some bandages and wrapping them around my chest, The others had cornered Hotaru, Stein was talking,but I couldn't keep my eyes open, much less hear him. He looked panicked….'hahaha…never thought I would see him panic like this' .I closed my eyes as a cold feeling pulled at me. I felt someone picking me up…probably Stein…

~Hotaru (Striker)'s pov~

'What have I just done?!' I had to escape ,and I knew it was dangerous, but I almost killed someone!...but I don't remember doing it…I had managed to stay awake, even when they tried to force me to fall asleep with so many medicines…I heard Danny made it.' ...Good, I thought I had killed him…' Well, I will try to escape again…I'll try not to hurt anyone…'but I couldn't even control myself'…oddly, no-one is treating me badly, I heard some people saying someone about a 'keeshin egg' and a soul, of course I knew what a soul was, but they spoke of it like it was something different, They keep sedating me, I don't know if its supposed to make me fall asleep, 'but it doesn't, it just makes me feel sick and tired'. I don't know why I have bandages on my legs or my left arm, I don't remember getting any injuries that bled, I remember I had a few injuries, but they didn't bother me?. "I see you're still awake" I think his name was Stein…yeah, that sounds right. I tried to stay focused but the damn stuff they kept injecting me with didn't let me. I looked up "Yes, when can I leave?" I really want to leave this place…and I REALLY don't want to go back to that cell "I'm afraid you have to stay" He adjusted his glasses "I wont give up on escaping" I tried to stand up from the bed I had 'woken up' in more like actually realized what I was doing, apparently I didn't stop struggling until like an hour ago "We've done this around five times before, this time just close your eyes and sleep. This is the last one you can take safely without risk of an overdose, but I will have to risk a few more if this one doesn't work". I was pushed back by…Marie? At least I think that's her name. "It's for your own good" She said in a motherly tone. I decided to obey, since I hadn't heard that type of tone for years now…not since…I'd rather not think of that. "Fine" Marie smiled softly. I winced as the familiar needle was poked into my arm. This time I really felt sleepy unlike the others. Marie and Stein stood up and left as I fell asleep.


	5. Chapter 5

~Danny's pov~

'Ughh what happened?' "oh shit, am I dead?" I groaned as I tried opening my eyes, and a too-bright light made me close them and open them slower this time. I put my arm around my mid-stomach, slightly wrinkling the once stark white bandages wrapped tightly around me. "No you did not die, and I suggest you don't touch those bandages". Someone scolded as I sat up. "What happened?" I asked "The girl went berserk on you". Stein explained.

"Where is she?"

"She's been put to sleep".

"YOU KILLED HER?!" I instantly regretted yelling as a shooting pain shot across my stomach.

"No, she's been sedated, and don't make any strong movements and try to keep calm, the wound might re-open, it was extremely difficult to stop the bleeding".

"Oh". 'seems I over reacted' I waited until Stein left and stood up (slowly of-course).I left the room and shuddered as I felt the skin around my stomach stretching. " .nope, nu-uh" I checked every hospital-type room, and finally found Hotaru's at the end of the hall. I slowly opened the door; 'I really don't want to go trough the experience of almost dying again' Hotaru was asleep in an almost-but-not-quite fetal position and snoring softly. "What are you doing outside of your room?" Marie scolded

"Uhh…nothing?"

"Get back to your room"

"B-but I"

"Shut up!, First you force me to sleepthen…youu wake me up? Please don't tell me you're going to sedate me again, Ican barely think" Hotaru slurred . "Danny, why are you here?, shouldn't you be resting or some crap" Hotaru growled with a sour expression and a clearer voice.

"Hey, I'm the one who almost died here!"

"I'm the one who's been captured by some shitty people!"

"You almost killed me!"

"Get out."

"You can't tell me what to do!" I tried to control my anger. Hotaru stood up 'I swear that her eyes were not that color a few seconds ago'

"Stop it you two". Stein walked in, adjusting his glasses.

"Get. Out."

"No".

Hotaru walked up in front of me and glared, I noticed her eyes were light silver 'weird…I could've sworn they were green'

"I warned you, dumb-ass" Hotaru's Arm transformed into the same wine-red sword I had been attacked with. Stein quickly injected something into her arm, and her eyes were now green. Hotaru suddenly whimpered as I was pushed out of the room. I felt bad when I heard Hotaru whimpering like a small child 'It's her fault not mine' I sighed and walked back to my assigned room, reminding my self that is shouldn't risk going out of my room.

~Hotaru's dream~

"D-daddy I love you! So I made this for you!" A little girl with innocent eyes smiled broadly and hugged a tall man's leg tightly "Get away from me you little freak" The man pushed the little girl away in disgust while the people nearby stared with pity. The little girl sniffled "W-why, did I do something wrong?" The little girl asked guiltily "Yes, you did" The man hissed, and the small child, who could barely keep up with the angry man fell silent.

The scenario changed, and this time there was an older version of the little girl, now around ten years old. The girl stood shaking, barely visible as a shadow was cast over her. If someone one were to pat attention, they could easily see bruises and cuts littering the girl's frame "Did you try to give me away?!" The man from the past scenario grabbed the child from the collar of her shirt "WELL?! DID YOU!?" the man shook the limp girl "No, father" The girl answered with no hint of emotion. "YOU LYING LITTLE SHIT!" The man barked at the quiet girl, whose tangled brown hair covered her eyes. The girl was violently pushed into the corner of the dirty counter-top the girl began shaking. She gasped as a kick to her side knocked the air out of her lungs." You know the drill, the punishment is worse for every sound, understood!" The man hissed "UNDERSTOOD?!" "Yes, father" "No sounds!" the man laughed maniacally as the girl tried running away. The man punched the desperate child repeatedly; the girl's lip was now raw and bleeding from her frantic attempts to keep quiet. After about an hour, the girl was left alone in a corner, If you listened closely you could hear "I don't want to die yet, I really don't" being repeated like a mantra as the shadows threaten to swallow the child whole. The child's suffering increased by the minute, as blood pooled around the frail frame

The scenario changed once again and appeared to be a year after. "You miss-behaving little brat Hotaru!" The same man from the past scenarios once again yelled at the weak looking girl "What did I do wrong now?" The girl barely whispered as blood dripped down from her forehead. "You're a freak! Freaks like you don't deserve anything!" The man kept yelling insults of this type at the scared girl." That's it, no freak like you is a daughter if mine, now ." The man spat angrily, the girl nodded, grabbed a worn, patched up teddy bear and a bright blue ribbon, her only possessions and stiffly walked out into the unforgiving night, A blade stuck out from the sleeve of the girl's hoodie and snow fell quietly

(~Back to reality~ ~no pov~)

"He's going to find me" Hotaru sobbed onto Marie's shoulder, Marie, of course had no idea of what was happening and awkwardly rubbed the girl's back." Who is?" Marie asked, Hotaru shook her head and sobbed harder. Marie sighed as Hotaru pulled away, sniffling and wiping at her face frantically. "I-Im sorry for staining your shirt" Hotaru choked out. "Oh, don't worry" Marie wondered what had caused this reaction but decided against asking. "I'm hungry" Hotaru stated after having calmed down significantly. Since she had woken up screaming and crying Hotaru seemed a lot more childish. "Here you go" Stein set down a tray on a small table beside the small bed. "How come you're always in this room?" Hotaru asked curiously. "We were assigned to keep watch over you, But we switch shifts with other people sometimes" Stein answered while adjusting his glasses. "Oh" Hotaru's eyes sparkled happily as she ate. Someone knocked at the door and then opened it. "Hasn't Sid told you to stay in your room, You're not supposed to be walking" Stein scolded Danny briskly "But its quite convenient to have you two in the same place" He continued "You are now partners, and the girl will be enrolled in the academy". Hotaru choked on the spoonful she was swallowing. Danny glared. "WHY?!" Hotaru demanded "Oh by the way, call me Striker" she added randomly. "Your souls each seem to balance the other perfectly, yet seem to repel each other, so we decided to experiment" Stein answered simply. Danny and 'Striker' glared at each other briefly. "So, What weapon is she?" Danny sighed "We don't know yet, but she appears to be sword-related" Marie explained. "Hey, I'm right here! Don't talk like I'm . !" Hotaru yelled while waving her arms wildly in front their faces. Hotaru's blood ran cold at Danny's glare. "uhh…" She squeaked and hid behind Marie. Danny felt slightly guilty at causing his now partner fear, if their souls already repelled each other, he didn't need to worsen it. "Of course, you two might need some work before you can be sent on missions, and enter the academy as a team". "After at least a week, Danny is not supposed to be walking yet" Marie reminded Stein. At that exact same moment Sid chose to show up. "Has any-one seen Dan- oh there you are" Sid said as he spotted Danny trying to coax out their prisoner from under the sheets of a messy bed. "Come on! If we're going to be meister and weapon, you need to come out…and actually trust me" Danny rolled his eyes and tugged at the sheets. Stein, Sid and Marie watched in amusement as the girl peeked out of the sheets. "No, and you probably don't trust me either" She said stubbornly. "I trust you…except when your eyes turn silver". "What do you mean?" Every-one asked in unison. "Well, when she attacked me, her eyes were silver, not green" Danny stated like it was the most obvious thing in the world. "I still don't trust you" Hotaru turned her back to Danny. Danny was now REALLY pissed "Get out from under the sheets, and stop acting like a toddler" Danny growled, Hotaru shook her head 'no' and looked extremely scared. "I give up" Danny shrugged, but every-one became worried when Hotaru's eyes, barely visible, Switched quickly from green to silver, to green again. Hotaru slowly came out from under the sheets, looking confused "What just happened?" She asked softly "I'm not sure, but the 'transformation' seems to be triggered by negative emotions or by being overwhelmed" Stein explained what he had noticed while adjusting his glasses. Hotaru stayed silent and Danny looked thoughtful. "Her soul is very complicated" Danny stated "How would you know? Its not like people can see souls, can they?" Hotaru asked sarcastically, feeling more confident. "Well actually some people can" Sid answered. "Yes, and as you noticed, People here work as teams, meister and weapon" Marie explained to the confused girl. "I thought I was the only one…and so did he…" The last bit was muttered sadly by Hotaru who looked dazed. "Who?" Danny asked his weapon patiently, after all he had heard Stein, 'no need to trigger her other side' he thought nervously. "huh… Oh it's no-one" Hotaru lied "You suck at lying ,but I wont press it" Danny shrugged. He would find out later…


	6. Chapter 6

~ (two weeks later) ~

"Damn it!" Danny cursed as Hotaru glared at him "I would appreciate if you stopped dropping me" "Look at my hands! I think you made the wrong choice professor Stein!" Danny yelled at Stein, the palms of Danny's hands were covered in minor burns "That's only a small soul rejection" Stein said without looking up from a notebook in his hand. "Try again" Stein demanded. Hotaru turned into two swords, a small white one and a longer red one. Danny picked both of the swords up from the floor, wincing as they came in contact with his burns. Danny swung the white sword with ease but the red one clattered to the floor. "You two are getting better" Stein wrote something down. "I have to go do something…" Stein muttered and left, leaving two very confused kids behind.

~flashback~

"WWHHHAAAAA-" Hotaru yelled, getting interrupted by a Reaper chop to the head. "I should've expected this reaction" the Shinigami said, mostly to himself, while Hotaru was whining. "I mean it, you are to move in with your meister" "B-b-but" Hotaru sputtered while the Grim reaper raised his hand in a threat. "I'm perfectly fine with this, but WHY does she have to move in with me?" Danny said, looking fairly interested, while at the same time managing to send his weapon a stay-still-and-let-me-be look. "Because the cell she is using might be needed later and I'm sure 'Striker' will cooperate so she won't need another cell…we also need to know her actual name" The Grim reaper said, silently threatening Hotaru. "Let's get going firefly-chan!" Danny chirped, pulling Hotaru along. Danny, upon hearing that his weapon was stuck in a cell, had been looking forward to her moving in, of-course he didn't really show it much. Because if he'd learnt one thing it is that Hotaru absolutely LOATHED any type of help or pity. "I told you not to call me that!" Hotaru yelled at Danny, but not in the same manner she would've two weeks ago, now it was in an almost joking manner. Hotaru basically owned nothing, so they had been given money to buy her uniform, clothes etc. Danny's house had an empty room where his partner was moving in.

They both walked in silence until they reached Danny's apartment, Hotaru looked at it like it was the best house in existence, 'Did she really live on the streets?' Danny thought as he opened the door and placed his hands in his pockets casually. "I guess this is your house now" Danny chuckled awkwardly. Hotaru was staring with slight irritation at the apartment "Considering I didn't want to move in… this is pretty nice" Hotaru said "so… it's still early, I'm going to buy my stuff…" Hotaru put a teddy bear on the couch and began to walk outside, Danny, grabbed his partner's wrist " I don't trust you enough to not leave, and you're not allowed to go alone" Danny said, angry and slightly hurt at the thought that Hotaru would still leave without regrets. Hotaru closed her eyes and tugged her arm away from Danny "I know what you're thinking, I wont leave… until I have a reason" Hotaru accidentally added the last part, but either Danny didn't hear it, or it didn't bother him because he was now back to being his calm self. "I'm still going though" Danny stated seriously " No problem" Hotaru shrugged and headed for the shops nearby.

~now~

"Where's the school supply?" Hotaru asked "Right over there" Danny pointed to the left "firefly-chan" Danny added looking away, trying to hide his laughter. Hotaru simply growled and smacked Danny over the head. "Ow, you're abusive" Danny whined childishly "grow up" Hotaru said without paying attention, instead looking longingly at a mother and daughter walking down the street. At this Danny remembered the talk 'lord death' had with him:

"Danny, Lord Death has summoned you" Someone called Danny

"Hello Lord death"

"Hello Danny"

"Did I do something wrong?" Danny asked nervously

"No, but I feel you should know this, since you are her partner… how do I put this…" the Shinigami thought out loud "Well, we have been able to find some details about your partner, would you like to hear them?" Danny shivered, 'why is he so unwilling to tell me?' Danny nodded slowly "Well…have you noticed anything strange about her?" "Yeah I have, she freaks out when people yell and she looks really scared when I touch her, apart from that she's been crying like at twelve or later in the night" Danny listed off, counting on his fingers "We may have found the reason for that… It seems she was abused by her father" "Well…how would you know it was her father?" " we've investigated and he is her only living relative, along with her mother, but she disappeared completely years ago" Spirit informed, silently seething "What's that bastard's name?!" Danny asked angrily "Joshua Sasaki" the Shinigami Spat with obvious disgust "I swear I will kill him!" Danny yelled "calm down Danny, we haven't been able to track him down, but the academy will not spare trash like him" The grim reaper said with actual malice and anger, startling Spirit, who stood quietly (slightly). "I believe a student of mine will not use this information for doing any wrong, understood" Danny nodded, seething with anger at this 'Joshua Sasaki'.

"Hey Firefly-chan! Once we finish we can go get ice-cream or something" Danny said to get his partner's attention "Yay!" Hotaru cheered while grinning "But don't call me firefly-chan!" Hotaru smacked Danny over the head, standing on her toes. "Again, you're very abusive" Danny rubbed the back of his head and then ruffled Hotaru's hair. "Stop!" Hotaru whined. "Nope" Danny said simply, trying to get Hotaru to feel better… and not stare at the families "We're here, now… first thing's first… let's get a backpack" Hotaru said absent-mindedly reading a list on a sky-blue post-it. "This one's nice" Danny pulled a checkered backpack from the shelf. "It's awesome!" Hotaru cheered after inspecting the back-pack. "Now to get… a notebook and I'm done here!" Hotaru said to herself. "This one it is" Hotaru picked the first one she saw, a black one with a white soul on the front. "Wll now the girly part…clothes…hooray" Hotaru said flatly. "It can't be that bad" Danny assured. "Well I need a whole set of clothes AS IN normal clothes, clothes for aany missions, my clothes for school, extra clothes and such" Hotaru groaned "Or do what most people here do and get one outfit for both school, training and missions and an extra one?" Danny said slowly like he was talking to a six year old convinced he was a squirrel. "Well that's easier" Hotaru said happily while walking into a random clothes store "uhh.. this sells only guy's clothes" "it does n- oh, so it does" Danny laughed while Hotaru walked into another store. "Stop laughing~" Hotaru said in an airy voice, leaving a threat hanging in the air.

"Hey, Hotaru, please turn around"

"nope"

"look at me"

"… you are extremely paranoid…" Hotaru sighed, complying to her Meister's command "Fine, I turned around"

"Well I can't be too careful! What if you went on a rampage with all these people around?"

"Do you not trust me? Because a Meister-weapon partnership is more than half trust, mister paranoia" Hotaru said in a smart-ass tone.

Things went on like this until Hotaru chose her clothes and had changed into them. "these shoes hurt my feeeeet!" Hotaru whined like a little kid "You'll get used to them" Danny said, making his way with difficultly through the crowd.

"Are we still getting ice-cream?"

"if you want to"

"Well of course I do!" Hotaru cheered


	7. Chapter 7

~like… idk half an hour later~

"42-42-564 whenever you wish to knock on Death's door" Danny whispered hurriedly to himself as he wrote the number on a mirror "Hello there, Is there anything wrong?" The Grim Reaper's image popped up "Yes,-" "There's a keeshin rampaging through the shops" Danny cut Hotaru off quickly "Do you wish to risk fighting it?" "yes, I think we are ready" Danny and Hotaru nodded, looking hyped-up. "Do not be reckless, Danny, if your partner becomes hard to handle run away, I'm sending a back-up team" The Shinigami commanded "Okay" Danny nodded while Hotaru didn't really react. They both made their way towards the keeshin. "Transform….now!" Danny signaled and Hotaru quickly oblidged, Once the swords were in Danny's hands he charged towards the badger-like creature. The keeshin howled in pain as Danny sliced into its side with the wine-red blade, After retreating, the creature sniffed at the air, unable to find his attacker, who stood calmly behind the huge not-so-bright creature, who climbed up and stood on a roof-top, the raven-haired meister and his weapon leaped up into a parallel one and Hotaru transformed back. Danny ran towards it, throwing the white blade and successfully disabling one of the creature's back legs, then catching the sword. Suddenly, the creature's snout was practically on Danny's shoulder. "We should run" Danny gulped "Nu-uh" Hotaru declined childishly. "Fine, one more try" Danny moved away just in time as the keeshin's jaws snapped closed on the spot he stood on seconds ago. The raven-haired boy charged at the monster aagain, digging both swords into its chest, and running out of the way as the creature swiped at him with what would've been a spine-crushing blow. "Pay more attention!" Hotaru panicked as the creature loomed over them, Hotaru's meister's eyes widened as the creature landed a blow on him "Danny!" Hotaru transformed into her human 'mode', while Danny tried to catch his breath, the keeshin once again managed to land a hit on Danny with its huge front paws. "That's it!" 'Striker' yelled angrily and stood in front of her meister with her arm transformed. The creature reared up on its back paws unsteadily "Stay away from my meister!" Hotaru's eyes flashed silver as she slashed at the creature desperately, Danny watched with indecision towards what he should do as the creature fell. Hotaru suddenly cried out softly and fell to her knees, trembling visibly. "Are you okay?" Danny rushed to her side just in time to se her eyes go back to their normal green. Hotaru nodded slowly as Danny helped her up. "What do I do now?" Hotaru asked rolling the twitching soul around in her hands "Eat it I guess?" Danny shrugged, Hotaru stared at the soul strangely and attempted to eat it but spit it out "That was really weird, It's moving!, I feel like I'm eating something alive" Hotaru shuddered and swallowed the soul cautiously "Better, I hope the next soul doesn't move around so much" Hotaru grimaced but then smiled "We'd better go tell Lord death we collected our first soul" Danny hurried his weapon, later pointing out that it would get dark soon. Hotaru's grin suddenly faltered as a stranger sent her a smirk. "C-can we go now?" Hotaru said, sounding disturbed while pulling at Danny's shirt sleeve, who noticed the close similarity between the stranger and his partner but shrugged it off.

~at the DWMA~

"That was very reckless of you! Especially you 'Striker' Death scolded the two after hearing how everything had gone. "But you did get the job done..." He sighed "Congratulations, you two get a day off, then it's back to school" The team nodded and headed to their now shared apartment. About an hour later Hotaru opened a closet door, standing on her tip-toes to hang a shirt inside. "Done!" Hotaru said happily and closed the closet door. "Now you need to put your things for school in the back-pack" Danny said "I forgot" Hotaru said tiredly. Danny handed her the plastic bag with the school supplies and left the room. "Damn it!" Hotaru cursed, trying to shove a notebook into the back-pack "That's not how you do it~" Danny mocked "Shut it!" Hotaru blushed in embarrassment as she realized she was holding the notebook at the wrong angle. She put in the notebook more carefully, then a case with colored pencils, an eraser and a single pencil. "Done! For sure this time" Hotaru checked the bag one last time.

~a few hours later~

"I give up!" Hotaru yelled, her bed was shoved into a random angle under the window, the blankets were bundled up in a corner and the pillows were scattered around. Hotaru grabbed the blankets and sat on the couch in the living room, with the blankets wrapped tightly around herself. "What are you doing up so late… I mean early? It's one-thirty in the morning" Danny asked sleepily, having woken up thanks to the T.V.'s volume being so loud. "…my bed is to heavy to move to where I want it" Hotaru said simply. "I'll help you, but just go to sleep, we have school tomorrow" Danny half-scolded. Hotaru nodded and absentmindedly twisted the blanket around in her hands before standing up a minute later. Danny and Hotaru easily re-positioned the bed and placed the sheets on it along with the pillows.

"Do you need anything else?"

"Yes. Tuck me in!" Hotaru commanded childishly.

"You want me to tuck you in… You're twelve"

"So…?"

"You're acting like a toddler, and you need to be cared after like one"

"And your point is?"

"Fine"

"Yay!" Hotaru cheered and lay down on her bed, Danny threw the blankets lazily over her "Need anything mo- that was quick" Danny looked at the sleeping Hotaru and tugged lightly at the teddy-bear that never seemed to leave her hands at night and was rewarded by a blade to his hand and a sleepy groan. "Okay, message received" Danny pulled his hand back, startled. "Good-night" he mumbled "G'night" Hotaru sort-of replied and went back to sleep, hugging the worn (slightly creepy) teddy-bear tightly. Danny shut the door and padded over to his room hoping this wouldn't become a daily habit.

"Wake up Hotaru!" Danny knocked on his partner's door. "Nooooo I don't feel like going to the academy!" A dull 'thud' sounded as she threw her pillow against the door. "Come on! We need to go!" "No!" "Yes. We are going! Do you feel like getting in more trouble with the academy?"

"I do if they insist on making me wake up early!" Danny pushed open the door and Hotaru pulled the sheets over her face as light filtered in. Danny pushed Hotaru and she fell right off of her bed "Meany" "We're going to be late" Danny tapped his foot impatiently "Fiiiine" Hotaru sat up grumpily. "Now get ready" Danny said firmly "You're not my mom!" "I'm a guy so… it's obvious I'm not your mother" Danny answered, Hotaru stood up and headed for the kitchen, after eating Hotaru grabbed her back-pack and headed outside along with Danny, a few minutes into the walk to the DWMA Hotaru suddenly stopped walking. "Danny give me your jacket" "Nope. It's my jacket" "Danny. Give me the jacket" "Umm no" Hotaru then chose the most 'mature' option, violence (it's always the answer kiddies!) by punching Danny's shoulder. Hard. Repeatedly. "Fine, take the jacket" Danny handed his jacket to his complaining and violent partner "How did you forget to change clothes?" Danny laughed "I don't know but we're late so I'm not turning back" Hotaru tugged the hem of the jacket nervously "Every-one is going to laugh so much" "At-least I know I'm going to" Danny mocked. "Shut up" Hotaru punched him again and walked ahead.


	8. Chapter 8

~Inside the academy~

"Pay attention" Stein demanded and threw his scalpel right between Danny and Hotaru. "Meh" Hotaru shrugged and kept drawing "You really should pay attention pajama girl" Stein said mockingly "Still better than wearing stitched-up clothes you crazy scientist-hobo" Hotaru finally looked up from her drawing moodily, While grabbing the scalpel that was stuck in the wood behind her and tossing it towards Danny. "Watch it" Danny warned and then threw it towards Stein, now this was extremely awkward for the rest of the class, considering that said team sat in the back of the class so everyone heard the yelling between teacher and students. The rest of their classes passed calmly until Hotaru and Danny were called to Lord Death's office.

~A few minutes later~

"Well, it seems all of the teams are occupied so you were assigned a mission early"

"B-but it's only been a day since we defeated that keeshin!" Hotaru complained

"That was not an official mission"

"B-but"

"Quit complaining so I can give you all the information needed" The shinigami pulled out a map of a small island with another two smaller islands at its right. "This is the island you'll be going to, it has a long history involving witchcraft, and is crawling with myths and legends witch have been proven to actually be keeshins, your job is to exterminate as many as you possibly can, the most important are located in its biggest forest and any coastal cities. The island's adult or older residents mostly speak Spanish, the schools have not started teaching English recently but some people are more eager to learn, so if you need help younger people will probably help the most, also the island has tons of reports on Homicide and thefts, over all tons of criminals so be very careful" "No problem, I know how to deal with criminals, considering I was one until about two weeks ago" Hotaru re-assured strangely. "Well Danny, you're the meister, do you have any preferences about any part of the mission?" "Not really. No" Danny quickly answered. "Well your flight leaves in four hours" "AND YOU CHOSE TO TELL US NOW?!" Hotaru and Danny yelled in unison "well I accidentally deployed the last team an hour ago and I just scheduled everything" Lord Death answered nervously. "How long will we be in the island?" Danny asked "As long as it takes for the primary tasks to be done" "So around two weeks if we stop to gather other souls" Danny thought out loud "Don't rush into any battles if you don't feel ready, you two are still a new team" the two nodded and walked off towards their apartment.

~A few minutes later (yet another time skip)~

"My stuff won't fit!" Hotaru complained as she put all of her weight on some random larger back-pack and attempting to force it to close "Tough luck, you're the one who stuffed it with random things! Now hurry up we have one hour to get to the airport before we miss the flight!" "Fine" Hotaru pulled the back-pack on and slammed the door shut, waiting for a taxi to drive by, witch happened soon enough. "Flight 12 passengers, your flight is leaving in ten minutes" A computerized voice announced. Danny and Hotaru quickly took seats, Danny took the window seat and Hotaru took the one near the one to the right, putting her back-pack in the seat in the middle of them, seeing as no-one was going to sit there. An hour trip later Hotaru and Danny were checking in their assigned hotel, and then heading each to their own room.

~A few minutes later (yet another time skip !)~

Hotaru and Danny had agreed to meet in two hours at the lobby, Hotaru was now searching for her meister who was sitting on one of the couches "Well, guess who's about to eat, The maid was a keeshin" Hotaru stated while rolling around a red soul in her hand. "Can I have it?" A little kid stared, begging, at the soul in the weapon's hand "It looks like a nice toy, but you shouldn't play with your food"

"Oh, but I don't play with my food, nice lady, I kill it" the little boy stated with a wide grin. "What the hell kid?" Hotaru said while kneeling to eye-level with the kid with narrowed eyes, then putting a hand on the kid's shoulder. "D-Danny?" Hotaru called nervously as the kid transformed into a monster around four times her size. "Shit…uh just transform or something" Danny reached for the pair of swords but quickly retracted his arm as the creature loomed over them; Danny then ducked under the monster and quickly grabbed the swords. The creature's spiked tail slammed against the ground next to Him. "At this rate we'll get a hundred souls in this trip" Danny said while smirking, then charging at the creature, easily lodging the wine-red sword ,that was noticeably shorter than the last time he had used it, through the creature's back leg. "Eww I'm covered in Keeshin blood!" Hotaru whined "Oh shut it and look at the bright side, we're saving a lot of people" Danny growled at his partner. "Fiiine" Hotaru replied childishly. "Go at the legs!" Hotaru laughed, worrying Danny slightly 'Now's not the time!' Danny thought as the red sword began making his hands sting. Danny neatly dodged another would be bone-shattering blow from the monster's tail and quickly lodged the now longer white sword in the creature's chest and the red one in its throat. "That was a lot easier than last time" Danny and Hotaru said in unison "Now let's leave?" Danny suggested as police sirens blared loudly from somewhere outside the hotel. "You go get a reservation in another hotel while I go get my stuff!" Hotaru instructed quickly while climbing the stairs. "But wont Lord Death- oh, Fiiine theeeen" Danny reluctantly obeyed.

~Half an hour later~

"This is a nice hotel" Hotaru stated while throwing her bag on the bed of her new room "Yeah well, now we need to tell Lord Death why we had to switch hotels" Danny said while writing the Reaper's number on a small mirror he had been given in case of an emergency. "We're going to be in so much trouble! Well actually I am going to be in so mu-" Hotaru's panicking was suddenly interrupted "And why is this?" The Grim Reaper asked impatiently. "Uhhhh no reason?" Hotaru squeaked "Don't lie" Danny reprimanded his younger partner "Well we uh…Hotaru destroyed part of our previous hotel" "And who is this Hotaru?" The Shinigami asked cautiously "They don't need to know!" Hotaru half yelled-half whispered while smacking Danny over the head. "I'm guessing it's you?" 'Lord Death' pointed at Hotaru from the mirror "….maybe...maybe not…" "Great, it's going on your records anyway" "Oh come on!" Hotaru kept glaring at Danny for around half an hour until she dug out a black and blue nintendo Dsi

"When did you get that?"

"Uhhh I don't remember?"

"Weren't you out of money?"

"Yes…?"

"You stole it?!"

"No…?"

"Where did you steal it from?"

"You do not need to know"

"It wouldn't bother me so much if I trusted you to have only taken the Dsi, what other things did you take?"

"Nothing else…."

"I will not leave you alone until you tell me"

"Fiiiine" Hotaru sighed and dug out a plastic case with its charger and a few games

"Hotaru, these are brand new games….all this together might be worth around two hundred dollars, we're taking all that to the nearest videogame store"

"But I'm half-way through Pokemon Black two!" Hotaru hugged the Dsi protectively

"Halfway through a game you stole!"

"B-but I have a shiny starter pokemon"

"Witch you stole!"

"Oh come-one! I've stolen plenty before!"

"Witch is wrong"

"Stop acting like you're my mother"

"You stop acting like a brat"

"I am not acting like a brat!"

"We're going to the nearest video game store, now!"

"Eh, tomorrow maybe, I wanna sleep"

"Fine, eventually because tomorrow we're heading to a school apparently"

After Danny had left, Hotaru curled up on her bed and instantly fell asleep with a small smile.

In her dream:

A much younger version of Hotaru hugged a woman tightly, probably her mother, seeing as they looked a-like. The woman smiled at her warmly "Its time to go home, little firefly" The woman laughed "I don't want to go home, Daddy's there!" The younger Hotaru whined, placing her small hand in her mother's, the woman's smile faltered slightly "I think Daddy's not home today though" "Yay!" Hotaru grinned widely.

After waking up Hotaru sighed deeply, deciding to actually be productive she changed into her normal clothes, she looked at the clock for a full minute, finally registering the neon numbers '3:45 am'. Hotaru grabbed the stolen console mentioned the day before and started playing with it in boredom, vaguely knowing she wouldn't get any sleep anyway. "I'm bored….I hope Danny wakes up early" Hotaru complained. Trying to not fall asleep again she switched on the T.v. loudly, twitching slightly when a random thought hit her "Eh, maybe I can ask for a pet on my birthday" she shrugged and continued whatever she was doing, Soon enough Danny was knocking on a very sleepy Hotaru's door. "You're finally awake!" Hotaru cheered "Did you sleep at all?" "Yep" "You don't look like it" "Well *yawn* sorry" "Come on, I see you're ready and you never wake up early, just tell me later if something's bothering you, but now we need to get to the south of the island while avoiding the police from around five different towns because they think you killed a little boy, not a keeshin!" "And instead of hurrying yesterday, you hurry now?" Danny simply switched channels until he found the news. "And you expect me to understand Spanish?" "Look at the subtitles, dumbass!" Danny instructed "Wow that makes me look pretty bad, not that I care" "We need to leave before someone recognizes you, I already paid" "Why before someone recognizes ME?" "Because they didn't get a clear look at me!" Hotaru got to her feet and quickly stashed everything into her bag. "I am not getting arrested, so lets go" Hotaru rushed. Danny got his stuff and Hotaru got hers, The later fidgeted constantly while Danny was surprisingly calm.

"So what are we going to do if we get caught?"

"I don't know, probably call Lord Death and tell him to send us bail money?"

"That plan sucks"

"Do you WANT to spend your life in jail for supposed murder?"

"One word. Jailbreak. Oh shit it's the cops, act normal!"

"You're the one freaking out"

"Shut up!"

"Calm down"

"Don't tell me to calm down!"


	9. Chapter 9

"So…." Hotaru started, kicking the seat in front of her from her spot next to Danny in the back of a police car, Danny shrugged and stared out of the dirty window. "This is laaaame" The girl whined after being warned to stop kicking the seat. Danny began the process of calling Lord Death while Hotaru rested her head against her seatbelt and tried not to fall asleep and ignore the heat. "You got arrested?!" The yell startled everyone, Danny smiled nervously and signaled for the Reaper to lower his voice "…Yes, we got arrested" "You two get detention for the rest of the semester" Hotaru stuck out her tongue at the mirror and proceeded to fall asleep against the car's door while Danny tried to reason with the Reaper. "Fine, how much is the bail?" "…" "Is it really that much?" "…Is two thousand dollars too much?" "I am sorry to say this, but you'll have to rely on Hotaru's skills, her records clearly state that this has happened before" Danny froze momentarily. "That's…reasonable…" Danny quickly ended the conversation and poked Hotaru, earning a growl but the desired effect of her waking up. "Well, seems the only way out is a jailbreak" Danny stated and Hotaru grinned deviously. And of course, the wait began to get to the police station. They were roughly shoved into a medium-sized cell, Hotaru waited impatiently until the police men left into the next room. "We have to come up with something now, an actual jail's prisoners are separated by gender so it would make things harder" "We can just climb out of that window" "Oh" Hotaru blinked slowly and looked up to see a glass window "Who would build a glass window in a cell…must be a trap, lets try that is my plan doesn't work" "Your plan?" "yep, look at this" Hotaru waited until one of the police men stepped near the cell (with his back to them conveniently) and transformed her arm and picked the keys from his pocket. She shoved the keys in her pocket, sitting on an available chair to hide the bulge on her right side; the man sent them a suspicious look and left. Hotaru waited a few minutes and then tried unlocking the cell with the keys "Damn, I knew it couldn't be this easy…." "How were we supposed to sneak out of the building anyway?" "I guess I haven't thought of that" "Let me try something" Danny took the keys and walked over to the window, noticing the small lock on it and using the keys, then tossing them out of the window "Well, hurry, they'll find fingerprints on the keys, lock and window eventually" Danny said, slipping out of the window, Hotaru did the same then slammed the window shut.

(I am sorry its so short but It seems i've run out of ideas for this fanfictions, feel free to suggest any)


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